Posts

I always find this time of the year/semester really weird. I feel that because I don’t have any assignments due until January that I don’t really have much to do.

But.

THAT IS WRONG!

I really need to stop feeling so lazy! And I need to get revising, researching and planning for my exams and assignments! I also need to keep on top of my dissertation! In the long run that will also make my life a lot easier! So this week has consisted of dissertation research and picking my essay questions as well as beginning to research them. I’ve also emailed one of my tutors to ask for a revision breakdown for an exam that we are going to have in about 4 weeks. Which I’m super nervous for because I really really really hate exams and I just get too nervous when I come to sitting them!

I will give myself a tiny bit of credit though because I have started research for my biggest assignment that is due in on January by beginning to read American Psycho. It’s a 4000 word essay and it’s going to be such hard work, but at least it is started!

Share this:

So this week it has been really difficult to concentrate at uni because I have been super excited all week because tonight I have been to see Adam Ant at the Ritz in Manchester.
I absolutely love Adam Ant and never thought I’d actually have the chance to see him live!!
He was brilliant!!! Did not disappoint!

Now this week I also had a nightmare because my plug for my iPad decided to break! So for the Friday I didn’t have access to any of my lecture notes. I’ve learnt my lesson though because now I’m going to make sure that I email my notes to myself at least once a week!!

Share this:

This week has been a very exciting one as since we started back in October I have been working on starting my dissertation project. On previous blogs I have mentioned the topic area that this is investigating, the primary to secondary school transition with children who have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Parents whose child has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. This is a particular interest of mine as I am looking into maybe going into an area of Special Educational Needs when I finish my degree next year. Over the past few months I have had to complete an Ethics Form, Design an information sheet to be sent out to parents and one to be read to the children, think of interview questions for both of the groups and design a participant consent sheet for parents and the children and a parental consent form. This has taken a lot longer than what I expected, but finally this week it was signed off 🙂 Meaning that I can begin my research, the letters have now been sent out to parents and I am very much looking forward to beginning this research as soon as possible. I will keep you updated with how this goes!

Share this:

This week we had personal tutorials at University instead of lectures which was good fun because it gave me some time to sit and talk to my Lecturer on an informal level about all my issues, where I am and what I am focussing on at the moment! So as I am working on my final Portfolio of University (that is terrifying) I have set myself goals to achieve… I have been researching companies to write about in my portfolio and set myself briefs for. Looking into the target market, the brand analysis, tone of voice of the brand and the brand perception I have looked into the relationship between the advertiser (or brand) and the consumers.

Whilst doing this, my brother sent me a video which is both funny and relevant! It is also very true… Brands and Advertisers know so much yet so little about their consumers…

Share this:

After my module on musical theatre (which you can read more about in previous posts!), I moved onto the subject I’ve most been looking forward to for this year: DRA3076 – Contemporary Popular Theatres. A short course, it focuses on stand-up comedy, street theatre, clowning and, my personal favourite, cabaret!

This is another one of those ‘throw yourself in and see what you can come up with’ modules, and so far, I’ve tried my hand at stand-up, musical comedy, and even whistling – not exactly what you’d expect to be studying at University, is it?

Every course is different, every University has a different outlook, and the overall experience at each is a world apart from what you’d find anywhere else. So, think carefully about what and where you choose to study for the next few years – it’s not just a cabaret!

Share this:

The University held another one of it’s fantastic open days on Saturday and it proved to be a huge success with around 1500 registered visitors and an estimated 5000+ visitors in total on campus!

I spent the day assisting the Biology department and the new biology programs were revealed and well reviewed by the audience. As well as the future plans for the build of a new floor, the Biology department will be offering two new degree programs from Sept 2013; BSc (Hons) Human Biology and BSc (Hons) Ecology, and new module choices will also be added to the current BSc (Hons) Biology degree.

It was great to see so many budding biologists amongst the visitors and I thoroughly enjoyed participating. I hope everyone enjoyed the day and hopefully we’ll see some of you again in September!

Open day’s are a great way to find out more information about the University and the course your interested in and it’s also a chance to see our lovely campus and facilities. I attended quite a lot of open days and found it extremely beneficial!

Share this:

Edge Hill’s department of Sport and Physical Activity today hosted its seventh JAE (Junior Athlete Education) Day, an event that aims to give young sporting talent from local schools the best chance of future success. It also allows students to gain great practical experience to aid their future professional development.

As explained by Senior Lecturer, Sarah Pinder, “The event brings together a large selection of pupils from local high schools and aims to educate them about the importance of getting a balanced lifestyle, informing them about how to reach their full potential, both academically and within their particular sport.”

As I was involved today, I helped to teach pupils about the importance of lifestyle factors, such as training correctly, injury prevention and diet. We also set up a workshop on smoothie making with both a dragon’s den twist and bushtucker challenge! We also set up a variety of challenges to test certain components of fitness such as the reaction time and co-ordination of the pupils.

The JAE Day is just one example of Edge Hill’s continued sporting links with local schools. Another recent initiative included a primary school health week, where students took the lead in delivering theory and practical sessions all day, every day, for a full week.

Alex 🙂

Share this:

I can barely hear myself think today as I sit in the Hub at the centre of campus. There seems to be a small festive war between two groups over who can play Christmas songs the loudest, and it’s driving me crazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Christmas – presents, snowflakes, drinking irresponsibly (fa-la-la-la-la, la-la, la-la) – but it’s still November. Heck, I’m still recovering from October! It is not the ‘most wonderful time of year’ yet, stop rushing things.

Share this:

After a full week of teaching about healthy lifestyles in a primary school.. I am feeling pretty healthy!

Along with a group of 2nd/3rd year PE & School Sport students, we taught pupils at Golborne Primary School for the whole week on keeping healthy and I was placed in the Year 6 class along with four other students.

After an exciting introduction which consisted of a supermarket-themed ‘wake and shake’, we began our health week! Each day had its own theme including; food, exercise and role models.

We had an absolutely fantastic week and personally I had a brilliant time (especially dressing up on the last day for Children In Need)! All the children really got involved and enjoyed the lessons, finishing off a great week by presenting us with chocolates and cards signed by the pupils.. a very welcome surprise!

I’ve always wanted to teach in a secondary school however after having such a positive week in the primary school, I have a harder decision to make than first thought!

Alex 🙂

Share this:

This week I had my first assignment submission, this might not seem as scary as it was but I found it so much harder to submit this assignment than I have in previous years. This might be because it was my first submission for third year so fingers crossed I will pass it!! It was my last assignment on statistics however, for any of you wanting to study psychology you probably already know that statistics is a major part of your psychology degree, no matter if you’re doing straight or specialised. For me this was one of the main things that worried me when choosing psychology as the subject I wanted to study, as I had never done anything about stats before and maths isn’t one of my strongest points. Trust me you have nothing to worry about!! This has turned out to be one of my favourite areas of psychology and you don’t need to be a mathematician to understand it!